Saturday 6 September 2008 06.33 EDT
First published on Saturday 6 September 2008 06.33 EDT

Asif Ali Zardari easily won a parliamentary vote to become Pakistan's new president today despite past allegations of corruption and at a time when the country faces severe tests from a faltering economy and increasingly assertive militants.

Partial results announced by officials after separate votes in the federal and provincial assemblies show that Zardari, the widower of assassinated former leader Benazir Bhutto, won an overwhelming majority of the votes.

Pro-Zardari lawmakers, some in tears, shouted "Long live Bhutto!" as the results came in. The couple's two teenage daughters, one carrying a portrait of their late mother, smiled from the gallery.

Despite the scenes of jubilation, the country's traditional power brokers - the military, the bureaucracy and the business elite - are aghast at the prospect of the election of Zardari, saddled with his "Mr 10%" image over past corruption allegations.

Zardari, who has voiced support for Washington's so-called war on terror, will have his finger on the nuclear button, possess the authority to fire and appoint the all-important army chief, and the power to summarily dismiss the government.

Crucially for Nato, the president is also in charge of Pakistan's tribal territory, the border area with Afghanistan that is used as a safe haven by Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

"Mr Zardari is probably not yet ready for the role of non-political head of the federation. He's too partisan. Or perhaps, the people are not ready for him," said Shaheen Sehbai, editor of The News, a Pakistani daily. "He was considered a negative influence even by his own wife."

It will be an extraordinary transformation - from vilified spouse of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, accused of a long list of crimes including corruption, extortion and murder, to world statesman.

Pervez Musharraf, ousted as president last month, grabbed enormous powers for the presidency and, though Zardari's party has pledged to cut them back, the force of the new president's personality means that he will reign as Pakistan's most powerful elected leader.

Zardari has constructed alliances with other parties that mean his opponents, Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, the candidate put up by his former coalition partner, Nawaz Sharif's party, and Mushahid Hussain, a contender from Musharraf's old party, will be easily defeated.

"The middle class and the elite both have a distaste for this man [Zardari], despite the fact that he's never been convicted of anything," said Mosharraf Zaidi, a political analyst. "He is guilty in the court of public opinion ... If there was a direct election, there's no question that Zardari would come in last."

Zardari insists that outside the chattering classes, he is popular. His party is also keen to stress that he is a substantial politician, having previously served as a member of parliament and twice as a minister.

"He's a tried and tested politician, not only at the grass roots level, but in terms of ideas and strategy. He worked very closely with Ms Bhutto and was her principal adviser," said Farahnaz Ispahani, a Zardari aide and member of parliament. "He's no Denis Thatcher."

Zardari fell out bitterly with coalition partner Sharif over the issue of the judiciary but outmanoeuvred the twice ex-prime minister. A further clash with Sharif, who runs the powerful provincial government of the Punjab, looks inevitable, a re-run of the confrontation between Islamabad and the richest province that caused massive instability in the 1990s.

Mainstream Pakistan is resolutely moderate but the western concept of the anti-terror fight is deeply unpopular. Zardari wrote in the Washington Post this week: "We stand with the United States, Britain, Spain and others who have been attacked. Fundamentally, however, the war we are fighting is our war. This battle is for Pakistan's soul."

Recent revelations of Zardari's unauthorised telephone contact with senior Bush administration insider, Zalmay Khalilzad, seemed to confirm that he is rated in the White House.

"He [Zardari] is coming with the blessings of the Bush administration," said Tariq Fatemi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington. "They feel he will provide a political face to the military operations."

(AP) — The widower of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto will succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan after winning a landslide victory in Saturday's election.